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STAYING CONNECTED THE BFORB WAY
BFORB CEO NIGEL BROOKES TALKS ABOUT THE RESURGENCE OF THE BUSINESS NETWORKING INDUSTRY
So much has had to change in the last two years, the innovation, the new way things are done, including things that are now generally accepted. You never used to be able to get fast food from brands like Burger King or McDonalds or Subway delivered where I live, but these changes seem to be here to stay.
IS ALL CHANGE GOOD?
Some changes however, perhaps ought not stick. Take my industry for example: Business networking and business relationship building. When the lockdown came in, the tried, tested and classic method of business networking had to halt. No longer were business owners able to seal a deal with a handshake, or look their partners, suppliers and customers in the eye during negotiations.
The networking industry, like most, responded really well to the change, shifting everything online. Business was able for a lot of businesses: continue, many businesses swapped the formalities of a desk chair and a pressed shirt and tie for a sofa, T-shirt and shorts, and business continued. Unfortunately many suffered beyond breaking point and had to close. But there was still an increase recorded by the ONS in Sept 2021 of a total of 6.7 Million businesses trading in the UK. We survived by adapting our networking & communication!
People, like other primates, are social creatures, 70% of communication is non-verbal, and during the reign of the zoom or teams meeting there was an obvious decrease in the quality of business networking, people cutting meetings short to get on the school run, or turning the camera off to answer a call or get the Amazon delivery from the door. Behaviours that would never have existed in the face-to-face networking environment.
THE POWER OF NETWORKING, FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
With 65% of products bought and sold by word of mouth or recommendation it is time to rebuild the worlds supply chain network and drive local economies forward again.
Businesses across the country are embracing face-to-face networking once more, there is still a place for the digital environment of course. But BforB - UK is once again championing the value of getting out & enjoying the merits of faceto-face interaction (where safety permits of course). It is so much easier to build a Know, Like, Trust relationship with someone when you are in front of them, and these relationships are critical to allow the generation and passing of the valuable referrals every business relies on to generate revenue.
STAY SAFE, BUT GET OUT & MEET PEOPLE
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